Johnson County Kansas joins Open Voting Consortium

Johnson County Kansas Joins Open Voting Consortium

Granite Bay, CA – December 17, 2008 – Johnson County Kansas has become the first governmental member of Open Voting Consortium. “The guiding light for the transition to a new voting system is shining in the middle of America,” said Open Voting Consortium president, Alan Dechert.

Johnson County Election Commissioner Brian Newby explained, “Our Open Voting Consortium Associate Membership reflects our commitment to raising the urgency to bring alternatives to today's closed election systems to the market. When the time comes for us to replace election equipment -- and many of our voting machines already are at their half-life -- we want to be able to choose from a wide range of cost-effective and secure technology options that allow for ultimate flexibility as our county population grows. That makes it vital that innovative open systems be evaluated, brought to market, and certified expeditiously.”

Mr. Newby concludes, “Our membership will allow us to evaluate the technology while it simultaneously follows a fast track for federal and state certification, as well as a subsequent market launch.”

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen has called for open source software for election systems. But six weeks after Election Day, election officials in Minnesota are still mulling over ballots in effort to divine voter intent. “These antiquated systems need to go away,” said Alan Dechert. “We need unambiguous ballots and a modern system owned by the people.”

Open Voting Consortium (OVC) was founded in 2003, a nonprofit California corporation. OVC develops and promotes secure and accessible voting technology that is free and fully open to public scrutiny.